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The Inquisition Commences
By Greg L | 16 April 2008 | Manassas City | 26 Comments
Baldwin Elementary was the first Manassas City school to get the treatment by the U.S. Department of Justice, and DOJ attorneys spent the better part of the school day individually grilling ESOL teachers about their daily activities, pestering central office staff for loads of paperwork, and even questioning the school’s translator about the process for enrolling students in ESOL programs. Students noticed a somewhat higher stress level in the school, and of course these teachers lost all of their planning and preparation time.
How nice of the Department of Justice to come and help Manassas City Schools do their job. Between now and Friday, the DOJ is going to “help” all the other schools in Manassas in a similar fashion. The word from insiders is that DOJ found absolutely nothing of interest at Baldwin, but is going to soldier on in their never-ending search for dirt with which to continue their harassment of the city.
Has anyone else noticed the absolute press blackout on this? Isn’t there a local paper in Manassas that’s supposed to report “news stories”?
See Also: Manassas City Schools Welcomes the DOJ
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26 Comments
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Sounds like more of a witch hunt than an inquisition. I wonder if any of the ESOL teachers are floaters?
I don’t understand why you get so worked up over this. You say you want to know about ESOL programs and immigrant children in your schools, and then when the government (DOJ) does something, you gripe to high heaven. What’s your problem?
Nothing like the federal government to cause a problem, subsequently ignore that the problem exists, then persecute local goverments and school systems when they attempt to deal with the mess that the feds created the first place. Also, isn’t it fitting that the DOJ is inspecting during the same week that federal taxes are due? A sad example of our tax $’s being wasted yet again.
Manassas City Schools has nothing to hide and nothing will be found by the DOJ. The people in our schools are genuine in their desire to educate ALL students and have worked hard in a situation that has been difficult to manage. It is ridiculous that the teachers, faculty and students are being subjected to this unwarranted and unnecessary intrusion.
Baldwin Elementary is the only Title One school to achieve AYP this year, and in the interim between the Washington Post article and now, they’ve been audited for both Title 1 (poor & disadvantaged students) and Title 3 (ESOL) Programs by the Department of Education and passed with flying colors.
So now not the Department of Education, but the Department of Justice starts combing through this school and others attempting to find anything they can to substantiate the preconceived notions that activists with the department seem to have. How many times does this school have to prove itself?
They shouldn’t be investigating this school, they should be giving it an award. It’s an example of a group of fine teachers and administrators providing nothing but dedicated service to the community.
Why aren’t they also looking at the Special education classes? ESOL classes have fewer kids in them than some of the special ed. classes. So why are they ONLY looking at ESOL?
I smell a which hunt.
Krutis,
Because the Feds are not here to remove the criminals from the schools, I’m sure everyone but you and the other criminal supporters would be jumping up and down with glee if that was the case.
I’ve been told that the DOE doesn’t have an investigative arm to it and that is why the DOJ is investigating.
WHAT ARE DOJ LOOKING FOR/ Please explain to this dummy.
Krutis said on 16 Apr 2008 at 7:25 pm:
I don’t understand why you get so worked up over this…
=============
The DoJ is not “doing something”. It sounds to me like it’s sending a message to Manassas that we had better toe the politically correct line or we’ll face an onslaught of bullying bureaucrats. I’ve seen Feds like this in operation and it’s not pretty. They can make a target’s life miserable and if they want, could build a case against Mother Teresa.
You are right on the dinero, Harry C. That’s exactly what these stooges have been sent to do. Intimidate. Choose the easiest, most vulnerable target, and intimidate. The folks who are really in charge (on K Street, not 1600 Pennsylvania Ave) are scared sheiss-less that a bunch of ordinary citizens would have the unmitigated gall to petition their local government to redress grievances caused and planned by the federal government. Gee-sus, they’re thinking, what if every county across the country did the same? Our clients would be SOL without slave labor. Better make an example of PWC before this spreads.
We’ll soon see what our BOCS is made of. Will they back down, citing “costs?” Or will they summon up the backbone to stay the course and effectively tell the feds to go piss up a rope?
This is better than Desperate Housebitches.
Who’s policing the DOJ?
What’s your famous mantra?
“if you haven’t done anything wrong, you don’t have anything to worry about”
Dept. of Ed has it’s own criminal investigators. It’s the OIG/OI (instead of auditors with spreadsheets, they are investigators with badges & guns).
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/om/fs_po/oig/inv.html
Krutis said: “WHAT ARE DOJ LOOKING FOR…”
I think you hit the nail on the head there, Krutis…I think that’s a question a lot of us have. If it’s NOT a witch-hunt by DOJ, presumably non-educator, bureaucrats, just what is it?
…and before you say, “they should have nothing to hide,” just remember, if I were to inspect YOUR house (or if you were to inspect mine) some dirt could be found behind the couch too. The only REAL problem here is that it should be DHS, vs. DOJ people doing the investigation.
I am sure that is part of a much bigger investigation that the DOJ is doing in conjunction with the lawsuit against the city for unfair housing practices, the definition of family resolution that was rescinded last year, and the release of Hispanic student names to the City’s housing inspector. The door was opened and now everything is being scrutinized.
Why is the Federal Government even dealing directly with a city elementary school? Shouldn’t Va. be doing the investigating at the behest of the Federal funding agency? The Feds don’t seem to want to deal with federal laws regarding immigration but they get into the inner workings of a local public school?
And right before SOLs. Those poor teachers must be pulling their hair out.
You’re right, Anonymous….but it’s sos…the feds don’t do what they should and they DO what they shouldn’t be doing.
We so often hear, “well, it’s a federal responsibility,” but they don’t fulfill that responsibility.
:( I just sent an E-Mail to Sen Webb on the issue of border security…asking only one question: “Why can not/will not the federal government secure our southern border”? Suppose I’ll get a reasonable response? Doubt it.
Hey, Constitutional lawyers out there…what are the prospects of the City of Manassas School Board filing a complaint with the DOE against the DOJ, and perhaps even the City Council turning around and filing suit against the DOJ for harrassment with financial consequences (cost to the school system in lost time, etc.) committed while stepping outside of their legally ordained duties (I have seen nothing said about this being a civil rights issue and, if so, on what grounds and who filed it)? I wouldn’t think that DOE would even WANT the DOJ stepping on their toes and abrigating their own duties…this could really stir things up and get the Feds off Manassas’ back, as well as shed some light upon the WHO and WHY of this. I would think that there are enough lawyers just in downtown Manassas who would love to sink their teeth into something like this pro bono.
Freedom - If you have a fail-safe idea of how to secure the southern border, why not share it with them that have the power to do so? - Even if the will is there, the HOW is the crux.
My suggestion that hasn’t been considered, is to establish a 200 yd no-mans-land section inside the border with Mexico and load it up with land mines. Sort of like the corridor between East and West Berlin in the past. The only thing the border guards would have to do would be to pick up the pieces of those idiotic enough to try to cross the area.
AWCheney -
Why not try the ACLU? I’ll bet they would take your case.
I also agree with Freedom, there is likely dust behind all of our couches. This is all so wierd. The Justice department investigating schools. Maybe the Education department should investigate border security or tax fraud (so we can pay for good schools).
Fortunately Manassas has a level headed School Board & Superintendent, that despite this lunacy are focusing on what their job is - teach students.
If it’s the DoJ doing the investigation, it’s not related to educational issues but is more likely the result of someone filing a claim for violation of civil rights under Federal civil rights statutes. That would fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice (not Department of Education) and would be Federal rather than local or state. If it’s a preliminary investigation, it would also not be unusual for DoJ to be quiet about the grounds and who filed until the preliminary investigation is complete.
Is filing a claim for a civil rights violation the same as filing a ‘Show Cause’ motion in court? I ask, because as far as I know any knucklehead can walk in to the court for any reason, valid or not, and file a Show Cause motion and the court must hear it.
To continue with the “dirty house” analogy, there may be dust bunnies under the couch, but there are no rats hiding in the basement. From all that I have ever seen or heard, the Manassas City teachers and staff are committed to what they do and that is to educate all of the children in their care. I have witnessed the extra lengths to which they go to help ESOL children succeed over and over again throughout the year. More importantly, apart from them being pulled out of the classroom for ESOL tutoring, one wouldn’t be able to discern the ESOL students from the rest of the students in the class. The students get along, seem happy, and the atmosphere is consistently very positive. This is what I hope the DOJ sees, as this is what I have seen throughout the school year. The schools here are doing a good job with a really challenging situation.
Krutis said, re: how to secure the southern border: “My suggestion that hasn’t been considered, is to establish a 200 yd no-mans-land section inside the border with Mexico and load it up with land mines. Sort of like the corridor between East and West Berlin in the past. The only thing the border guards would have to do would be to pick up the pieces of those idiotic enough to try to cross the area.”
Well, I’m really surprised to see you suggest such a measure, Krutis. Yes, it did work to keep the E. Germans in, but to my knowledge, has never been tried to “keep people out.” Regardless, we just don’t do things that way. In fact, land mines are illegal.
While I never claimed to have a sure fire way to secure our southern border. I’m not a US Senator either…and I don’t have a staff to investigate such things. However, I have two things to say: 1) If you don’t try, you’re sure to NEVER succeed and 2.) There are those that know how to do it…and btw, 90% effective would satisfy me.